Oil prices are holding around $71 a barrel, after hitting new peaks overnight amid rising tension between Iran and the international community. US benchmark light sweet crude eased slightly to $70.91 cents on Wednesday afternoon after passing highs hit last year during Hurricane Katrina. In London, Brent crude dipped to $72.40 from Tuesday's record of $72.64. Prices have risen 16% in the past month as Iran's nuclear row has worsened and Nigerian supplies have been disrupted. Analysts said that prices would continue to head upwards as long as Iran's dispute with the international community over its nuclear intentions remained unresolved. On Tuesday, the US failed to win international support from the UN Security Council for targeted sanctions against the country, such as freezing assets and curbing the visas of Iranian officials... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Betty Sternberg is in charge of two school systems. One, scattered throughout the state, is rich and white. The other, isolated in seven large towns, is poor and minority. Sternberg is the state's education commissioner, and one of her jobs is to unite the two systems so Connecticut can move past its role as defendant in the nation's longest-running desegregation lawsuit. On paper, it wouldn't seem to be that difficult. No one involved in the lawsuit disagrees with its contention that Connecticut hasn't always given its poor and minority students an education as good as it's given its rich and white students. No one thinks the gap between the two systems is a good thing. And no one wants the disparities to continue. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1860174

Militants broke into two schools in a mainly Shiite district of Baghdad and "slaughtered" two teachers in front of their pupils, the Iraqi government said Wednesday. The attack occurred at the Amna and Shaheed Hamdi elementary schools in Baghdad's Shaab neighborhood, the Ministry for National Security said. The statement did not specify when the attacks occurred but residents said they happened Wednesday. One teacher was killed at each school. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1860179

Australian troops are arriving in the Solomon Islands to help restore peace after rioting and looting in the capital, Honiara. Hundreds of demonstrators marched on the government building on Wednesday, demanding the Prime Minister-elect, Snyder Rini, stand down. Parts of Honiara are in ruins following rioting on Tuesday, and demonstrators have threatened more destruction. Mr Rini denies claims he is corrupt and favours Chinese businessmen. Much of Honiara's Chinatown area was razed overnight and some families were forced to jump from burning buildings. Police have imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the city. Mr Rini emerged from a meeting with advisers on Wednesday to appeal to Honiara residents to "remain calm", reported AFP news agency. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4921320.stm

A car bomb blew up as its driver tried to ram a U.S. military convoy in Afghanistan on Wednesday, while in a separate incident, two Canadian soldiers were wounded in a roadside blast. The attacks came as the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan met Afghan and Pakistani commanders for security talks including ways to combat a wave of bombings.Jalalabad police spokesman Abdul Ghafour said U.S. troops shot dead the suicide car-bomber as he tried to ram a convoy and seconds later his explosives detonated.U.S. military spokeswoman Lieutenant Tamara Lawrence said the driver was killed in a blast as he approached the U.S. convoy."Indications we have now is that no shots were fired," Lawrence said....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060419/ts_nm/afghan_violence_dc

Nepali police have exchanged fire with pro-democracy protesters in a town in eastern Nepal and at least two demonstrators were killed, police sources have told CNN.About 500 people, including the local police chief, were wounded in the clashes on Wednesday in the eastern district of Jhapa, officials added.Eight protesters have now been killed in two weeks of demonstrations across the Himalayan kingdom. In an effort to halt the pro-democracy protests, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Wednesday met Nepal's army chief for talks.The meeting came as a shoot-on-sight curfew was imposed on a tourist town to curb growing protests against King Gyanendra's rule. ...http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/04/19/nepal/index.html?section=cnn_world